Navigation and Tools Why do you need to plan your navigation? What does the user may need to know? Location: “Where am I now?” Options: “Where can I go from here?” Path: “How do I get there?” History: “What have I already explored/learned?” Microworld: “How much more is there to explore?” Good navigation is achieved using Node structures Navigation aids Care about and measure Usability

How to measure Usability? speed of performance of some activity incidence of errors while performing act. user’s ability to recover from errors task magnitude in learning to use the system user’s retention of learned skills user’s ability to customize the system user’s satisfaction with the system You have arrived when the user thinks: “Interface? What interface?”

Node Structures & Navigation Aids Linear circular Jump-linear wheel Rooted tree general tree binary tree Network Single-frame techniques Combination Menus Navigation maps Metaphors Histories Travel buttons Progress indicators

Node structure: Linear/CircularLinear Follows predefined path Good for zooming in/out sorted list animation sequence

Node structure: WheelWheel Predefined path with interruption Good for: sorted and unsorted list list slide show continuous animation

Node structure: NetworkNetwork Most general structure Good for adventure games web browsers with maps

Node structure: Rooted treeRooted Most intuitive navigation Good for hypertext web browsers without maps organization chart hierarchies games with choices decisions

Node structure: Rooted tree (2) Warning: jumping between cousin and uncle nodes is particularly confusing people lose the hierarchical intuition

Node structure: Framing (front-end) Framing Transparentnavigation (seems non-existent) Display windows (e.g. lexicon) Filtering (e.g., in FIND) Sub-screen detailing (e.g., zooming, see & point)

Combination of Node structures Case study: Broderbund kids’ BooksBroderbund kids’ Books

Navigational Aids: Menus Full screen menus: explicit options text-only menus text & graphics menus graphics-only menus Hidden menus: options Pull-down menus Pop-up menus

Navigational Aids: Maps One of the best navigational aids They show the big/whole picture contents structure Linkage The WWW cannot implement them easily

Navigational Aids: Metaphors Common ones from office objects books cassette-players film projectors geography maps Very often they generate terminology and become “slang”

Navigational Aids: Histories Provide information about “where you have been so far” Combined with navigational structures provide a strong navigational tool Choose what to include since they grow very fast

Navigational Aids: Travel buttons Home, Next, Previous, Back, Beginning, Quit Traditionally the only/main navigational aid Explicitly denote options Should remain in same relative position Related buttons should be grouped

Navigational Aids: Progress indicators Very useful when there is a mass to be covered Thermometers, gauges, clocks, filled bars,...